Machine for cutting potatoes into strips



Aug. 10 1926. T 1,595,502

' s. J. COX ET AL MACHINE FOR CUTTING POTATOES INTO STRIPS Filed Jan. 29, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l lllIHHIIHIIHIl|||IlIlllllllllllllllllllllll] w @Hornung Aug. 10 1926. 1,595,502

s.`J. cox l-:T AI

MACHINE FOR CUTTING PoTAToEs INT0 sTRIPs Filed gan. 29', 1925 2 sheets-Sheet 2 afi?" 5f Hg. 5. I? l gn umozs 572g/ d Cox 'Pao C. 60X

Patented Aug. 1o, 1.926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

sTAcY J. cox AND RALPH c. cox, or DEvEn, coLoaaDo.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING POTATOES INTO STRIPS.

Application tiled January 29, 1925. Serial No. 5,596.

This invention relates to Ymachines for cutting potatoes, and particularly to a machine for cutting potatoes into long strips known as shoe string potatoes.

Heretofore shoe string potatoes have been made by hand, that is the potatoes are sliced either in a slicing machine or by hand, and

then these slices are cut up into longstrips which are relatively square in cross section;

Potatoes, or` indeed any vegetable, after they have been pared are very liable to deterlorate by handling, and furthermore 'it is diicult to handle potatoes inn slices as the slices tend to adhere to each other and to crumple`up and turn in the where potatoes are sliced, for instance, and then later on cut up into long stri s or cubes, these cubes are not in the con ition which they should be in for proper cooking or consumption.

The general object of the present invention is to provide means whereby these potato strips or shoe string potatoes may be made by machinery and at a rapid rate.

A further object is to provide aI machine of this character having a series of cutting disks and havin a Slicer with a conveyor upon which the s ices of potatoes are deposited, this conveyor carrying the slices of potatoes to the shredder or to the series of disks whereby the potatoes are cut into strips.

A still further object is to provide means whereby a ated by power and whereby the potato strips or shoe strings shall be caused to leave the cutting disks and be discharged at the end of the machine. A

@ther objects have to do with the details of construction and arrangement 'of par s as will appear more fully hereinafter. v

Our invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, wherein v Figure 1 is a top plan view of a machine constructed in accordance with our invention' Figure 2 is aside elevation of the machine shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end elevation thereof;

Figure 4 is an elevation of the shredding or slice-cutting rollers;

Figure 5 is an elevation of one of the cuttin disks;`

igure 6 1s an elevation of the conveyor roller over which the conveyor belt passes;

hands so thatdevice of this kind may be oper- Figure 7 is a fragmentary vertical section through the conveyor roller andthe cutting shaft and its disks;

Figure 8 is a front elevation of the means for strippin the strip-cutting disks and spacing mem ers from-the strips or shoe strings of potatoes.

Referring to these drawings, a conveyor belt, which at one end is supported by a roller 11 mounted in bearings 12, these' bearings bein longitudinally shdable on guidesv 13 and being shifted longitudinally by screws 14: extending through the end walls 15 of the guides. The opposite end of is mounted upon a roller 16 carried upon a driving shaft 17, there being shoulders 18 at the ends of the rollers 16. This driving shaft 17 is mounted in suitable bearings 19 in the standards 20 of a supporting frame, the standards being connected by a transverse cross piece 21 at their upper ends.

The elevator belt 10 extends preferably at an inclination upward and forward in the direction of' travel of the belt and carried upon the shaft 17 is a driving pulley 22 which is driven by a belt 23 from an suitable source of power. Mounted in s idable bearings 24: in the supporting standards 20 is a shaft 25 which supports upon it a plurality of cutting disks 26 spaced from each other '-by spacing washers or members 27. These cutting disks 26 are separated from each other a distance equal to the width of a potato strip or shoe string and the series of this conveyor belt cuttinfr disks and the series of spacers 27 l are hed in engagement with each other and in fixed 'relation by means of' nuts 28 which have screw-threaded engagement with the shaft 25. Mounted upon the shaft 17 and upon the shaft 25 are the intermeshing gear Wheels 29 so that the shaft 25 with its cutters is rotated at the same speed as the roller 16. Preferably the bearings 24 are vertically slidable in slots 30 of the standards 20 and are vertically adjustable by means of adjusting screws 31 extending up through the upper ends of the standards in an obvious and well knownmanner.

Disposed to one side of the belt 10 is a supporting frame 32 which carries the` vertical shaft 33. Mounted upon this shaft is a disk 33 carrying cutting` knives 34, and extending over the top'of the path ofy movement of these cutting blades or knives is a ta- 10 designates i toes which are discharged from the cutters will drop down onto the bell.'J of the conveyor 10.` and thus be-` conveyed to the strip-cutting knives 26.

The shaft 33 is driven by means of a beveled gear wheel 37 mounted upon the shaft,

y in turn engaging a beveled gear wheel 38 mounted upon a short shaft 39, which shaft is mounted' in bearings 40 and carries upon it the belt wheel 41 engaged by a belt 42 with a belt wheel 43 mounted upon the shaft 17.

. 'Thus' it will be obvious that as the shaft 17 is driven by power, the apron in turn will drive the shaft 33.

In orderI to strip the strips of potatoes from the' cutting disks 2,6 and from the peripheries of they spacers 27, we provide a comb-like stripper 44 which consists of a plate of metal having sufficient length to be attached at its ends to the standards 20 and having a plurality of fingers 45, these fingers extending downward and between the cutting ripheries of the spacers 27.

The operation of this mechanism is as follows: The potatoes are fed by hand into the hopper 36 and as they move -downward are cut intov slices by the slicing blade 34 and discharged as slices onto the conveyor l0. This conveyor carries these slices, as lllustrated in Flgure l, forward and between the rollers 16 and the cutting disks 26 and the potatoes are thus cut into strips havmg a length equal to the length of the potato slicers and discharged, as shown in Figure 2, as shoe string potatoes.

One of the principal advantages of this` machine resides in the fact that the potato does not come in contact with the handof the operator from the'time the 'potato is placed within the hopper until it is taken out of the container within which 4the elongated strips of potato are dropped, and lnasmuch as the slices of potato rop onto a moving belt, it follows that the slices are disposed in consecutive order, that no slice overlaps another slice, and that there is no contact with the hand at any time. slices pass almost immediately from the e slicing machine to the stripping knives so that'the potato is still firm an 1n good condition when it reaches the stripping knives so that it may be cut up into` longitudinally extending strips and these strips may be immediately dropped into al pan of water so as to keep the potato fresh and in thoroughly first-class condition. What applies to potatoes applies equally well to other vegetables which require that the slices shall be immedisks 26' and bearing against the pe- The potato diately cut into longitudinal strips andv 1dropped into water without the touch of the and. y v

We are aware that it has been.proposed to cut potatoes into elongated strips or into dices by forcing the potatoes through devices having crossed knives, but it has been found in actual practice that the potatoes will wedge in the spaces between the knives because the cutting edge of the blade is neces'- sarily much thinner than the remainder of the blade, and where the product is confined in a small network it requires so much pressure to force it through that it will bruise' and crushthe product in the operation. Manufacturers of the most commonly used ,machines for the cutting of French fried potatoes vadmit that a pressure of approximately ,live hundred pounds is required to' force a medium to a large sized potato through the cross blade cutters. It will be readily plied to softer vegetables or fruits, would ruin the product before it left the machine.

Our machine requires practically no pressureI at any stage of the operation, and it has been demonstrated that even boiled potatoes may be cut without breakage in our machine.

scribed has been' tested in use and found to be thoroughly effective and very rapid in its action so that it is a relatively easy matter to cut up large quantities of Shoestring potatoes instead of having to perform this operation by hand. This makes the machine particularly convenient for large restaurants, hotels and for use where potatoes are to be prepared vfor banquets, etc. While we have illustrated certain details of construction and arrangementrof parts which we have found to be particularly effective, we do not wish tobe limited thereto as it isi/obvious that many changes might be made in these details without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended1 claims. f

We claim i. A machine for cutting potatoes in strips including a conveyin belt, potato slicing means disposed over t e belt and discharging sliced potatoes thereon as the belt moves, means disposed above the said element and the conveyor and carrying parallel lcutting knives extendin parallel to the path of movement of t e. conveyor and bearing against the surface thereof, and means for simultaneously driving the conveyor and the slicing means. p

2. A. machine for cutting potatoes into stridpls including a conveyor elt,`a shaft exten 'ng transversely to the belt carryinga seen that such a pressure, when ap` A potato cutter of the character above deshoe stringaol loo

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plurality' of cutting disks bearing against discharge successive slices upon the moving conveyor belt, one behind 4the other,4 and means disposed above the conveyor belt and 10 engaging said slices and cutting the slices into longitudinal strips.

In testimony whereof We hereuntoaix our signatures.

STACY J. COX. RALPH C. COX. 

